Mankessim (C/R), Jan. 13, GNA - Less than 20 percent of class three children in the Mfantseman district could read the word 'and', according to a baseline survey conducted by the District Directorate of Education in primary schools in the area.

The survey, which was launched to assess the children's reading ability, sampled a total of 599 class three children with only 114 being able to read the word.

As a result of this poor performance by the children, Mrs Matilda Bannerman-Mensah, the District Director of Education, has directed teachers in the district to display charts in their classrooms, indicating the reading ability of each child.

Mrs Bannerman-Mensah gave the directive at a meeting with teachers as part of her familiarisation tour of the district.

She said reading was key to the progress of every pupil or student, adding that a student, who could not read and understand questions or instructions, would not be able to answer them during examination. Mrs Bannerman-Mensah expressed concern about the 84th position the district occupied in the ratings schools in the country in 2004 and tasked the teachers to drastically improve on the situation. The school was rated 79th in 2003.

She held that if teachers had played their roles effectively, the situation would have been different. Mrs Bannerman-Mensah assured the teachers of the support of her directorate to make them deliver.